The front cover depicts the box art of the game, including Adam Malkovich, Samus Aran in her Military Dress and Varia Suit (with a reflective visor) and the BOTTLE SHIP. The Metroid part of the game logo is also reflective. The inside of the front cover features the artwork of Samus in both her Varia and Zero Suits. Immediately featured in the book is a pull-out poster depicting Samus fighting Kihunters. The book is divided into several sections according to the table of Contents: the Introduction, The Cast, Items and Upgrades, Navigation, Battle Basics, the Walkthrough and Item Locations. Each page has these sections' names on the side like flags, with the flag for each section being colored black for currently reading, and green for not reading. For instance, black if one is reading the Introduction, but green for all other sections. The BOTTLE SHIP's name is in all caps ("BOTTLE SHIP") as in the game.

The Introduction features acknowledgements from Bueno to his friends Mario De Govia, Noriko Matusnaga (a Nintendo employee) and Lisa. It then depicts a small paragraph about Samus' discovering of the Baby's Cry distress signal in the beginning of the game, and explains each section. Before the Introduction ends, it explains several boxes that appear throughout the walkthrough, such as red for caution, blue for notes and green for tip, and Item Boxes, which do not appear if the item in the room is unattainable at the time.

Items and Upgrades begins with the expansions and then the remaining upgrades though does not immediately divulge how they are obtained (or in this case, authorized). The Five-Bomb Drop is described (not by name) in the Bomb description.

Navigation describes the Third-Person View and first-person Search ViewHUDs and the various features that accompany both.

In the Walkthrough, the border and flags change from green to blue (though the walkthrough flag remains black). This walkthrough names the empty training room and quarantine room. Each area contains a map with upgrades that are either necessary to the mission or close at hand, rather than upgrades to be obtained later during the endgame backtracking, although with each revisit to the sectors in the walkthrough a map of the explored area of the respective sector will show new upgrades and expansions. The text is written as if the player is Samus ("It's your old friend Anthony Higgs..."). The Observation Room is called "Experiment Floor 1", and the Swamp Zone is called "Experiment Floor 2", while the long, forest-like room that also contains a Groganch is called "Experiment Floor 3", which likely ties into the illusionary nature of all three rooms. The Lethal Strike is spelled incorrectly in one instance. During the second battle with the Rhedogian, Anthony is initially unmentioned by name. As the Vorash is attacking Samus prior to the battle, the guide speaks as if Samus has never encountered it before ("a massive whale-like creature, Vorash...") despite it being mentioned by name in the earlier chase sequence. During the Ridley battle, his grip is described as being so tight "that it crushes through your Varia suit and disables it," actually incorrect as the armor fluctuated due to Samus' lack of concentration from her PTSD. The walkthrough speaks as if the Screw Attack is to the Space Jump as the Shinespark is to the Speed Booster - that is to say, an extraneous ability, although it is likely because both upgrades are simultaneously activated by Samus. Spoiler tags (represented by yellow boxes with a red border and the all-caps word "SPOILER" in the middle of it, colored red and upside down) begin to be presented with the scene of the discovery of James Pierce's body. Seeker Missiles are referred to in singular form. MB is not referred to by name in the confrontation before her death. In the final countdown sequence, it is not mentioned that Samus is suitless, though artwork of the Zero Suit is present on the page (along with a spoiler tag) to give enough of an implication. This even goes so far as to identify the Charge Beam, rather than the Paralyzer when instructing the player on how to open gates.

The Item Locations pages are yellow, and the expansions are divided by item. For example, all Missile Tanks are listed in each area first, then the Energy Parts, and then the Accel Charges and so on.

The inner back cover depicts artwork of Samus Lethal Striking Ghalmanian. The outer back cover depicts artwork of Samus and Anthony Higgs. When unopened, the book is wrapped in plastic, and a flyer in the package on the back of the book serves as a secondary back cover, with the words "SAMUS IS BACK!"

The Deleter is unmentioned during the walkthrough, and the book does not mention the Pyrosphere door glitch (likely because the writers were unaware of it).